The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Customer contact centers are utilized in many different and diverse organizations for exchanging information between the enterprise and the customers. Customer contact centers, e.g., call centers, have emerged as one of the most important and dynamic areas of a successful business strategy. In many enterprises, contact centers represent a main interfacing point between a customer and the enterprise, handling incoming and outgoing calls from and to its customers in support of its operations. For example, telemarketing businesses utilize contact centers to make outgoing calls to market and sell the company's products. Service and products businesses utilize contact centers for a variety of purposes including dispatch of account information to a customer, maintenance of the company's goods or services, and tracking of product shipments by customers. Contact centers are additionally utilized as an effective method for informational collection for pooling and research oriented organizations.
Contact centers are typically used wherever a large number of calls must be handled for some common enterprise. Typically, the calls of the enterprise are routed through the contact center as a means of processing the calls. A contact center will have a telephone system which may be as simple as a small single-line phone, increasing in complexity up to a large multi-node PBX. A contact center preferably includes a computerized system for tracking, logging and recording call details. The contact center may have no operators or agents, or it may have many, depending on call volume and level of customer interaction. One application of a contact center uses automated audio response systems for general predetermined informational exchanges between the customer and the contact center and reserves agents for answering questions the customer may have.
A contact center preferably monitors agent performance in an interaction with a caller to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction and to keep an acceptable call completion rate by each agent. To simplify and add consistency to call handling, agents are often provided with written call scripts to follow during conversations with customers. While such call scripts improve call completion rates and customer satisfaction, they may prove ineffective in the case of a customer who asks questions or otherwise does not allow the agent to follow the prepared script.
Contact centers can utilize automated audio response systems to provide prerecorded audio in response to a customer input. Utilizing automated audio response systems can improve adherence to a call script by forcing selection of only the predetermined prerecorded audio responses. Use of the audio response systems lessens reliance on agent-operators to administer the call script and decreases costs associated with the contact center. However, use of the audio response system can frustrate customers seeking information not available from the call script and decrease customer satisfaction among customers seeking personalized assistance. Accordingly, a need exists for a way of making presentations to the customer that shares the efficiency of an audio response system with the personalization of an agent-operator. This combination enables new levels of automation and customer satisfaction in the customer service center by engaging users in intuitive, intelligent, and constructive interaction, and enabling organizations to increase service efficiency, and reduce call time for customer informational exchanges and transactions.